Railroad-spike.



G. STANDFEST.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 12, 1913.

Patented July 14, 1914.

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\ Specification 0t Letters fiatent. a nttuta filed May 12,1913. .senai'uo. romeo.

To all whom it may concern B it known that l, Gnonon Smnnrnsr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Spikes, of which the following is a spec1fi cation. p

Thi invention relates to railroad-spikes, or similar devices, of the type in which teeth or lugs are provided upon the shank of the spike to increase its hold upon a tie or tiniber in which it is driven, more particularly where these teeth or lugs are so, formed that the spike, by hammering in the usual manner, may be subjected to a partial rotation whereby the teeth or lugs are forced into solid portions of the wood to lock the spike in place.

In spikes of the type in question it has heretofore been proposed to employ, on one side or on opposite sides of the shank, a series of teeth or lug extending for nearly its entire length, and to provide the lower end of the spike with a beveledv or chisel-shaped point intended to facilitate the driving of the spike. The use of numerous teeth or lugs for the purpose in question, as in such previous constructions, is objectionable,however, as it causes the wood .mto which the.

spike is driven to. be so broken that the holding power .of the spike is seriously impaired. Furthermore, the teeth, extending as they do throughout nearly the entire \length of the spike, preclude the close and firm engagement between the upper port of the shank and the .wood which is desirable,

particularly in a railroad spike, to enable the spike to resist the lateral pressure to which it is subjected by the base of the rail.

One object of the resent invention is to produce a spike, of t e type in question, in which the teeth or lugs are so formed that the spike may be readily driven "into the wood with rain or fiber of the wood, while a powerful hold is attained against longitudinal move ment in the direction of withdrawal.

Another object of the invention is to pi 'ovide for a long and firm engagement between the wood and the upper part ofthe shank of the spike. .To these ends I have found that it is essential to employ a limited number of lateral lugs, two such lugs, in fact, being suficient, these lugs hav ng abrupt after being driven into the wood a minimum destruction .of the.

and 2 are, respectively,

upper surfaces but being connected with the'sherp lower end of the spike by long, smooth, inclined surfaces which are adapted to part the fibers of the wood withv out substantial injury. To the same end ll arrange the lugs in staggered or odset-relation, that is, with their abrupt upper surfaces at difierent distancestromthe end of the spike; and in order that the spike may.

be, driven straight into the wood the upper lug is preferahly made with its upper surface somewhat-wider than that of the lower lug, so that the inclined lower surfaces connecting the lugs with the sharp end of the spike are more nearlvat equal angles with the length of the spike. To secune'tha second advantage above pointed out, the'lugs are located ate considerable distance trozn the head of the spke, the upper part ofthe shank, preferably at-least half of its length, being smooth andsomewhat tapered from the head downwardly. This form of the spike rmits the fibers of the wood to spring ack against the shank after the assage of the lugs, so as to give a long, rm bearing of the shank against the wood.

Another ob'ect of the invention is to so form the h of the spike that the spike. may be turned, when desired, hymeans of the claw or spike-puller constituting a part widened or overhanging upper extremity adapted to maintain a secure engagement between the spike and the claw, while the claw is being employed to turn the spike, and at the same time. afiording a wide and firm surface toreceive the blows ot a sledge in drivi g th Si ln the accompanying drawings: Figures 1 a front-elevation and a side-elevation of a railroad-spike embodying the present invention, Fig. 2 showing the spike in engagement with a portion of the base of a railroad rail; Fig. 3 is a topview of the spike; and Fig. 4: is a horizontal section on the line 47-4 in Fig. 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the-invention has a shank 6 of which the upper part is smooth and round and is slightly tapered "embraced by sucha claw, and which has a Red Mid

downwardly, the shank terminating, at its lower end, in a sharp and somewhat wedge; shaped point 7.

The holding-lugs which constitute a' feature of the present invention are located at the lower part ofthe shank 6, occupying, in fact, somewhat less than one-half of the length of the shank. These lug's'have alirupt upper surfaces 8 and 9, respectively, but they are connected with the point -7 by long, smooth, tapered surfaces 10 and 11,-as shown in Fi 1. The surface 8 is somewhat wider t an the surface 9, so that the surfaces 10 and 11 are arranged at nearly equal angles to the axis of the spike.

The head of the spike is provided with a flange 12, which projects wholly at one side of the spike, and the head has a forward projection or nose 13,.which is adapted to overhang the base of a railroad-rail in the usual manner, and as shown in Fig. 2. The head comprises also an upward pro ect1on WlllCh is narrow and elongated,.as shown in Fig. 3, and which has a comparatively narrow lower extremity l5.

The spike above described; may be used in two ways. It may be started in a railroad-tie in the position, shown in Fi 2, and simply driven into the wood unt' the head engages the base of the rail. In this case the grain of the wood, owing to the peculiar form of the shank and. of the holdportion 14, and a wider upper ing-lugs, will sprin back against the shankand above the sur aces 8 and 9 sufliciently to afford a firm hold for the spike so that it is not essential that the spike be turned after having been driven home. In case it be desired, however, to turn the spike in the'manner characteristic of spikes of the type in question, the spike is started into the wood in a position at an angle of 90 to the final position of the spike. In this case the flange 12 atfirst overhangs the base of the rail, and comes into engagement with the base when the spike has been fully driven home, thus determining the depth to which the spike is driven. A claw may then be engaged with the head of the spike, the prongs of the claw engaging the sides of the narrow ortion 14 of the head, and the spike may t en begiven aquarter-turn,

engagement with the rail, as in Fig. 2. By

this partial rotation the holding-lugsare turned into' unbroken wood, thus firmly seating them in th wood and making'it difiicult to withdraw the spike by a direct pull. 4

When the spike is used in the manner last described it may be turned back to its original posildon for the purpose of withdrawing.

it. Owing to the provisionof a flange at one side only of the spike, it is also possible to disengage the spike from the rail and thus bringing the nose 13 of the spike into permit the rail to be removed and replaced without withdrawing the spike from the tie,

For this purpose the spike is given .a. furto fix the rail in lace by engagement with" the nose 13 of the spike. I claim 1. A spike comprising a head having a non-circular part by which it may be turned; a round shank which is substantially smooth in its upper part, and for at least one-half of its length, and sharp at its lower end; and two lugs with abrupt upper surfaces, the lugs being rounded in horizontal section, projecting on opposite sides of the lower portion of the shank, and tapering smoothly to the lower end thereof.

2. A spike having, in combination, a substaiitially round shank ada ted to be turned when the spike is in use: ugs with abrupt upper surfaces and tapering lower surfaces;

projecting from opposite sides of the shank; and a head comprising a substantially horizontal flange projecting at the front and one side of the shank. the other side of the head being substantially continuous with the side of the shank, and, an upward noncircular projection by'which the head may GEORGE STANDFEST.

,be turned.

Witnesses:

FARNUM F. Dons, D. GURNEE. 

